Tuesday, 21 December 2010

B'muir update 2: What happens next

Earlier today I posted on the funding implications of the announcement yesterday about redeveloping or rebuilding Boroughmuir High School. Below I append another part of the Council briefing which begins to deal with the timetable ahead.

The question of redeveloping on site or in a different location will be revisited.

The expected (lengthy) steps required are laid out in brief

It is clear there is no strong indication of when the work is likely to be undertaken or completed, particularly in the continuing uncertainty on funding.

The Next StepsNo work has been undertaken on the project since 2008 due to lack of available funding. As a result, cost information for the refurbishment option dates back to feasibility proposals prepared in early 2008 which suggested a phased refurbishment and partial new-build programme on the existing site which was estimated to take six years and seven months. This information now needs to be updated.

The refurbishment option would entail a very lengthy decant for the school. Whilst the Fairmilehead site was discounted in 2008, other possibilities for an alternative site on which a new build might be undertaken may have arisen in the intervening two years. An assessment will therefore be undertaken of any available site options.

We will work with the school to establish the Strategic Educational Design Brief for the project which will include establishing the vision for learning requirements for space typologies and characteristics, faculty adjacencies and critical principles for design. This process has been followed very successfully for both Portobello and James Gillespies and has been recognised nationally as an exemplar approach. The resulting brief will be of key importance to determine the educational vision for the school before consideration is given to the physical aspects of the design and will be used by the architects as the basis for developing the physical design for the school.

Once all available options have been considered a report will be brought to Council regarding the recommended way forward for the project and for associated funding implications.